It's been a wild 12 months for the SEC, but after all of the dust settles, the Florida men (above) and Texas A&M women are projected to repeat as champions of the conference. Archive photo via Florida Athletics

While no meet that’s this close is over until it’s over, both the men’s and women’s meets at the 2019 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships were effectively decided in Saturday morning’s prelims.

In the men’s meet, Florida enters Saturday with an 8 point lead over Missouri. The meet should stay close after the 200 back, but barring any DQs will break wide open in the 100 free and 200 breaststroke in favor of the Gators. Including the mile, which doesn’t technically have A, B, or C finals, the Gators have 2 more A finalists and 5 more scorers overall in just the individual swimming events on Saturday night. Neither team has had a distinct advantage on diving yet at the meet, and the 400 free relay should be fairly competitive.

A young Texas A&M team is pretty-well cemented into 3rd place. That would make their 2nd-straight top 3 finish (they were 2nd last season) after never finishing better than 7th in their first 5 seasons since joining the SEC. The best team battle tonight will be Tennessee vs. Georgia. Tennessee has a decided diving advantage, while Georgia has a big edge in the mile. With scoring projected to only be 13 points apart before that, that one could come down to the final relay (advantage: Tennessee). Alabama isn’t far behind, but only earned 2 A finalists on Saturday evening, which will make it hard to catch up to either team.

On the women’s side, Texas A&M carries an 83 point lead into the final day of competition. While the Gators will cut into that in the 200 back, surprising depth from the Aggies in the 100 free (the sprints are their weakest group this year) will claw them back before they put the meet away with 6 scorers in the 200 breast (versus only 2 for Florida).

Projected final women’s team scoring, without mile (slight Florida advantage) or relay (wash):

Texas A&M|1029.5

Florida|892.5

Tennessee|852.0

Auburn|799.5

Georgia|791.5

Kentucky|784.5

Missouri|576.0

South Carolina|479.0

Louisiana State|468.5

Arkansas|447.5

Alabama|357.5

Vanderbilt|122.0

Neither team had a great morning session, but A&M did enough to secure their spot atop the conference for a 4th-straight season.

Auburn should fault up the rankings, and have a chance at fighting-off Georgia and Kentucky for 4th (though Georgia has the superior distance program). This would be a big win for Gary Taylor’s recruiting campaign, as the Tigers were 5th in each of the last two seasons under Brett Hawke (and haven’t been better than 4th since 2011).

Men’s A/B/C Finals by Event:

Note: does not include diving

200 back

100 free

200 breast

1650

Team

A

B

C

Team

A

B

C

Team

A

B

C

Team

A

B

C

Florida

2

2

1

Florida

2

2

1

Florida

2

1

2

Florida

1

2

0

Georgia

1

0

3

Georgia

0

0

0

Georgia

2

0

1

Georgia

3

1

1

Missouri

2

3

0

Missouri

1

0

1

Missouri

1

1

1

Missouri

1

1

1

Tennessee

2

0

0

Tennessee

1

1

0

Tennessee

1

0

1

Tennessee

1

1

0

Texas A&M

1

1

0

Texas A&M

1

1

2

Texas A&M

1

1

0

Texas A&M

1

0

2

Alabama

0

0

2

Alabama

2

2

2

Alabama

0

1

1

Alabama

0

1

1

Auburn

0

0

0

Auburn

0

1

0

Auburn

1

1

0

Auburn

1

0

1

Kentucky

0

0

1

Kentucky

1

1

1

Kentucky

0

2

0

Kentucky

0

0

1

South Carolina

0

1

0

South Carolina

0

0

0

South Carolina

0

0

1

South Carolina

0

2

1

LSU

0

1

1

LSU

0

0

1

LSU

0

1

1

LSU

0

0

0

Men’s A/B/C Finals Totals:

Note: does not include diving

Totals

Team

A

B

C

Florida

7

7

4

Georgia

6

1

5

Missouri

5

5

3

Tennessee

5

2

1

Texas A&M

4

3

4

Alabama

2

4

6

Auburn

2

2

1

Kentucky

1

3

3

South Carolina

0

3

2

LSU

0

2

3

Women’s A/B/C Finals by Event:

Note: there are 3 swimoffs on the women’s side of the pool. None should substantially change scoring.

7

Leave a Reply

3Comment threads

4Thread replies

0Followers

Most reacted comment

Hottest comment thread

5Comment authors

newestoldestmost voted

OldArmy

As usual, the Aggie Women were under-rated and then over-performed. I don’t think they would have it any other way. Many said that they couldn’t win the SEC after graduating arguably their best class ever. And, most felt they were too weak in the sprints and relays. But, all week, they seem to have been finishing higher than their seed, and their depth shines again. Coach Bultman knows how to get his team ready for when it counts. And, their senior class should be proud once they get this one in the bag …. 4-straight SEC Championships (assuming Keith’s projections hold true) is a huge achievement.

Vote Up24-1Vote Down Reply

25 days ago

SaintJoseph

OK, OK we knows when we are bested. Congratulations to T+M for a hard fought and well deserved win. BUT just remember this all you Texas folk…iffin it twarnt for us Tenesseans there would not be a Texas! Remember the Alamo.

Vote Up60Vote Down Reply

25 days ago

OldArmy

Good point indeed saintjoseph.

Vote Up20Vote Down Reply

25 days ago

swimmom1

Go Aggies! A great team effort!! Whoop!

Vote Up6-1Vote Down Reply

25 days ago

Anonymous

Have you seen the Florida divers? What are you even saying? “no team has a distinct diving advantage”

Vote Up40Vote Down Reply

25 days ago

Fly100

Congratulations to Coach Nesty and the Gators ! Well done is always better than well said . Go Gators !

Vote Up40Vote Down Reply

25 days ago

SaintJoseph

Agreed Anthony is the epitome of humility, kindness and graciousness. He is a true champion and sportsman. Congratulations to him and all of the UF athletes.

Vote Up40Vote Down Reply

25 days ago

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder of SwimSwam.com.
He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming.
Aside from his life on the InterWet, …